


Children

by bohrok



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Food, Kissing, minor OC character death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-03-04 09:42:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3063122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bohrok/pseuds/bohrok
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra and Asami have different opinions on whether or not to have children.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Children

**Author's Note:**

> -(title might get changed)  
> -(anything else you want added here, let me know)  
> -spans after spirit world vacation mentioned in “The Last Stand” (S4 E13)  
> -will probably make edits  
> -also posted on my tumblr at http://tmblr.co/Zx5Oml1Z4nD3A

“Korra, I really don’t want to disappoint you, but you need to hear this.” Asami said.

This was Asami’s first comment coming after a five-minute-long speech from Korra about what she imagined their future children would be like.

Korra was smiling from ear to ear as she replied, “Sure. What is it?”

“I don’t want to have kids.” Asami stated.

Korra’s smile vanished. “No kids, as in no biological kids, no adopted kids, or none of those?”

“None of those, Korra.” Asami confirmed.

Korra was eerily quiet for a full minute. The only part of her body that moved was her eyes and that was only to blink. Asami had no idea what Korra was thinking. Was Korra about to get angry? Was Korra about to cry?

Finally, Korra moved. She stood up and began to head for the door. Before she went through the doorway, Korra stopped and turned to Asami. Korra gulped once as she was looking down at the floor, then looked up as soon as she found the words to speak.

Korra told Asami, “I’m not mad or frustrated with you, Asami, but I need some time to think about what you said. Having kids is a really big deal to me, so it’s not just something I can easily sacrifice. I’ll be back in time to cook dinner with you. Do you need me to pick up anything from the market? Maybe we could make some of your favorite flour dumplings together or we could have some Flamey-O’s Instant Noodles if you don’t want to spend much effort cooking tonight.

“I’ll settle for some low-effort Flamey-O’s. And, Korra?” Asami called out before Korra could leave.

Korra paused right in her tracks. “Yes?”

“Thank you for understanding.” Asami said.

Korra came back in the room and swooped Asami off her feet into a great big kiss. After Korra set Asami back down on her feet, Asami hugged Korra and pecked her forehead tenderly.

Korra told Asami, “Of course. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Asami replied.

After Korra left, Asami set a kettle on the stove. Asami wanted something to soothe her building anxiety, believing jasmine tea to be the way to do it.

Korra found herself in the plaza of Sato Station, the largest and most-frequented train station in Republic City. Asami had built it after returning from vacation, as well as relocating the rest of downtown Republic City, which had been destroyed either by Kuvira’s giant mech or by the large amount of spiritual energy released during the formation of the third spirit portal.

There was a large statue of Asami in Sato Station’s plaza, one the same height and made from the same type of stone as Korra’s statue in the old Avatar Korra Park had been. Korra approached the statue and stood at its feet. She looked up into its eyes and tried to think of how she was going to go about this conversation when she got back home.

[Asami… I really want children. I really, really can’t imagine my life without having at least one.]

[Why, Korra?] Asami would say.

[Because… because…

When I talked to Kuvira in the Spirit World, it broke my heart when she talked about feeling unloved and abandoned. I don’t want any child to ever grow up feeling that way.]

The statue of Asami didn’t react, seeing as it was a statue, but in response, Korra tried harder to win it to her way of thinking.

[I’ve always loved kids, Asami. They’re so much fun and people notice how I’m a natural with them. Parenting seems like something I want to do, so I really want to go for it. Please, Asami?]

“Korra? What are you doing here?”

Korra ceased conversation with the statue to see who was talking to her. It was Tenzin.

Korra said, “I was just thinking. What are you doing here?”

“I’m patrolling Republic City, like I always do. Not too long ago, I had to deal with a fire in one of the boroughs just south of here.” Tenzin replied.

Korra asked, “Is everyone all right?”

“I only got there just in time to catch the people who started it. What happened was two firebenders were dueling out in the street when one of them accidentally lit one of the apartment complexes on fire. By the time the fire department had arrived and put out the fire, twenty people had to be sent to the hospital. If Mako and Bolin hadn’t been there, the whole block would have gone down in flames, and then maybe hundreds of people would be in the hospital. I just came back from the medical center where Mako and Bolin were taken for minor smoke inhalation. The hospital’s not letting anyone visit them right now until they get thoroughly checked out, so you’ll likely have to wait several hours before seeing them.” Tenzin reported.

Korra told him, “I’ll have to bring Asami with me when I visit. Thanks for telling me, so I know Mako and Bolin are in good hands, at least.”

“You’re welcome, Korra. Say, what did you come here to think about?” Tenzin inquired.

Korra answered, “Well, I was telling Asami earlier about how much I want to have kids, but then she told me she doesn’t want any. I don’t know what to do, Tenzin.”

“This sounds like the very same conversation I had with Lin back when we were dating.” Tenzin reminisced.

Korra said, “Really? How did it go?”

“I wanted kids. I specifically remember one of my strongest reasons was so I could fulfill my father’s dream of rebuilding the air nomads. Lin didn’t tell me why she didn’t want kids, and when I would ask her, she would always say that she didn’t want to talk about it. We never had closure for this argument and it drove us apart.” Tenzin stated.

Korra did not like the sound of that. “Oh.”

She feared now more than before that this rift could potentially break her and Asami up.

“I would go talk to Lin about why she didn’t want kids. If she chooses to share with you, it might give you some insight on what Asami is feeling.” Tenzin recommended.

Korra replied, “Okay. Thank you for the advice.”

“Anytime, Korra. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go check on the northern boroughs.” Tenzin said.

Tenzin went north to those boroughs and Korra went east to Lin’s apartment, to see if Lin was there.

Asami had finished the entire kettle of jasmine tea, but still wasn’t feeling very relaxed. She tried reading a magazine about the latest inventions by the great Republic City captains of industry, but she felt like she couldn’t focus enough to enjoy reading any of it. Asami’s mind was firmly set on replaying the discussion with Korra from earlier.

Sighing, Asami picked up a blank sheet of paper and began to write out her feelings on it.

[Korra, I agree you’re good with kids. However, I’m not. They make messes, are loud, and everyone finds them endearing when I just find them… well, usually annoying.

They can sense I don’t like to be around them, and so they do the avoiding for me. But having to take care of a child… Korra, I don’t think I can do that.]

Asami imagined Korra was there to say, [But why, Asami?]

[Children always remind me of the relationship I had with my father. He’s been gone for years now, but everything still reminds me of him, from pai sho to showing up for work and passing by the one photo of him we still keep in the hall where all Future Industries executive’s portraits are. I know it seems silly, but I worry about if I had a child, that it would turn out just like it did with my father. Not that I would ever do anything like my father did - but that something so bad would happen between us that they would renounce me like I had to do to my father. I wouldn’t be able to bear it if that happened.]

A teardrop fell from Asami’s eye and blotted out the final character she had written on the sheet. Asami sniffed, then crumpled up the paper. She dotted at her tears with a silk handkerchief and then threw the note away.

Asami wanted Korra to be here with her more than anything else right now. It was the only thing that was ever going to calm Asami down at this point.

“Lin? You there?” Korra called out as she knocked on the door.

Lin answered it. She had taken her uniform off and looked like she had just been caught in the middle of going to bed.

Lin growled, “This had better be important, Korra.”

“Tenzin told me to ask you about why you didn’t want kids when you were dating him. He thinks it will help my relationship with Asami.” Korra explained.

Lin shouted, “He said what?! I told him I never wanted to talk about my reasons why and he still sent you over?!”

“Lin, it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. We don’t have to.” Korra tried to reassure her.

Lin thundered, “You’re right I’m not going to talk about it!”

Lin slammed the door in Korra’s face. Korra stood there for a minute debating whether or not to knock again. Korra concluded it was better to not and left the apartment complex.

As Korra picked up enough Flamey-O’s Instant Noodles for two from the store, she started to reason through why both Lin and Asami didn’t want to have children. As much as a small part of Korra was tempted to write off Lin as a grouchy old lady and Asami as being prissy, Korra had matured enough over the years to understand that those assumptions were unfair. Korra knew enough about Lin’s past relationship with her mother Toph that Korra could safely infer Lin’s decision to not have children had to deal with that. Korra extrapolated that it might be a similar situation for Asami. Asami’s relationship with her dad Hiroshi had deeply affected her, even after she ended up forgiving him. And though Asami never brought it up in conversation, Korra had observed how awkward Asami always was around children, as particular examples, Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo. At first, Korra had written this behavior off as a rich lady quirk. It was only now Korra began to wonder if it was related to Asami’s own parents.

Korra was about to fork over the necessary yuans for the noodles when the bouquets of flowers behind the counter caught her eye. Among them were pink and purple tulips, just like the kind she and Asami picked for each other back when they vacationed in the Spirit World.

“This and some of those tulips over there.” Korra ordered as she set the instant noodles down on the pay counter.

The sales clerk told Korra, “You’re in luck. These flowers are very fresh. We just got them delivered a few hours ago.”

After paying, Korra took her purchases home. When she opened the front door, Korra smelled jasmine. Korra knew this scent usually came from after Asami brewed jasmine tea, which Asami swore helped to relax her. For Korra, jasmine tea just made her sleepy.

“Asami? I’m back.” Korra announced.

Asami walked into the foyer and the first thing Korra noticed was that Asami had been crying while Korra was out. Asami’s eyes were red and puffy. Asami also had in her hand her handkerchief, which Korra only saw Asami carry out and around if Asami wanted to dry her face of tears.

Korra gently dropped her grocery bags and bouquet to either side of her.

Korra asked, “Asami, are you okay? Let’s sit down.”

With as much care as possible, Korra led Asami to a blue overstuffed arm chair and Asami sat down. Korra took up the handkerchief and gingerly dabbed at Asami’s eyes while holding her hand.

“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Korra gently implored.

Asami replied, “I just heard on the radio that there was a fire in one of the southern boroughs and that both Mako and Bolin are in the hospital. The anniversary of my father’s death is tomorrow - what if they die and - I can’t lose them too and especially not on the same day?”

Asami’s body shuddered with sobs and the handkerchief was steadily growing moist.

“Asami, I talked to Tenzin while I was out. He says he visited Mako and Bolin in the hospital already. Tenzin said they’re going to be all right. He even said we could go visit them as soon as the building reopens for visitors again. Do you want to go there now to see if we can get in or do you want to cook some dinner first?” Korra said.

Asami responded, “Let’s go there now. I don’t want to wait.”

Asami stood up and Korra then remembered buying flowers earlier.

“Oh! Uh, these are for you.” Korra announced.

Korra picked the bouquet from by the front door off of the floor where she had dropped it to run to Asami earlier. Korra handed the flowers to Asami and Asami’s mood brightened a tiny bit.

Asami told her, “Korra, they’re beautiful. They are just like the ones we saw on our vacation. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Asami.”

Asami gave Korra a quick peck on the cheek before putting on her coat. Korra handed Asami’s handkerchief back and Asami used it to dry the last tear from her eye.

“I’m all ready. Let’s go.” Asami declared.

At the hospital, Korra and Asami found out that Mako, when he was being the hero again, broke his left arm… again. It was a relatively minor fracture this time. No one had even noticed until the doctors gave him a precautionary x-ray.

Asami asked, “How many times have you broken this one arm, Mako?”

“Ten, if you include this time. I think he’s doing it on purpose now.” Bolin answered for him.

Mako retorted, “Hey, that little boy wouldn’t have gotten out of there alive if I hadn’t caught the second floor ceiling as it was coming down.”

“You wouldn’t have gotten out of there alive either if I hadn’t earthbended the ceiling off of your heads!” Bolin countered.

Asami told Korra, “Let’s give them some privacy. As they’ve told us before, arguing is how they bond.”

Asami and Korra started walking down the maze of hospital hallways. Waterbending healers were running every which way, trying to deal with the large amount of patients. There were so many people that in order to stay out of their way, Korra and Asami had to sit down on the nearest bench, and stop trying to push through the chaos.

“Did you want to talk now? We never finished our conversation.” Korra said.

Asami replied, “Yes. When you left the house, I did some thinking.”

“So did I.” Korra added.

Asami continued, “I’ve decided that I might be open to raising a child. But: only one and not anytime soon. And, it might be best if we adopted or fostered. I’m probably never going to be that great with children, but for you, it’s at least worth a try.”

“Thank you, Asami! Thank you. Thank you!”

Korra gave Asami a warm hug and Asami nuzzled Korra.

The doctors were wheeling a newly-admitted patient in on a stretcher. This patient had suffered severe lacerations, but the baby she was holding was completely unharmed.

“Is that the Avatar?” The patient asked one of the doctors transporting her.

Korra stood up. “Yes, that’s me.”

“I need… I need…” The patient became incoherent.

Korra followed after the stretcher. “Wait! What is it?”

Asami chased after Korra and while jogging close on her trail, asked one of the doctors why this patient had been admitted.

“Some out-of-towner earthbender caused a landslide out near the Spirit World. They left town before the police could catch them, so we don’t know who they were or why they did it.” The doctor explained.

Korra and Asami reached the room where the patient was being treated. The patient not only had those deep lacerations, they had heavy bruising and lots of obviously broken bones.

Korra told the woman, “Hang on! You’re going to be all right.”

“We’re losing her!” One doctor shouted to the others.

The woman grabbed Korra’s hand. “Avatar, I need you. I have no family left and this is my only child, Nuo.”

“Please, try to hang on, Miss Liang.” One of the doctors urged.

The woman continued, “I risked my life to save her. There’s no one else left. I want you to raise my baby. Please, Avatar.”

Her last movement was to place her baby in Korra’s arms as she drew her last breath and passed away.

“Someone find a death certificate and write this down. Liang Jiao Yuan, deceased at 11:59 PM…” A doctor recited.

Korra and Asami walked out of that saddening room more than a little stunned. The baby, sensing she was separate from her mother, began to cry.

Asami implored, “Korra, what are we going to do?”

“I don’t know, Asami.” Korra replied.


End file.
